Emily (McMillan) Carroll

Emily McMillan Carroll, our beloved mother, departed this life on March 31 after 98 well-lived years.

She was born March 11, 1921 in Bamberg, South Carolina to G. Marion and Mamie McMillan.  She attended Winthrop College and was a member of Beta Sigma Sorority. During WWII she worked for the military in Washington, D.C. in military intelligence and later worked as a dietician at Johns Hopkins in Maryland, Mt. Sinai, and St. Francis Hospital in New York.

During her 98 years, she lived in South Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, New York, Florida, and Ohio.  She was an accomplished world traveler and artist.

Emily was a loving tender of both gardens and people.  As her illness began to take its inevitable course, when asked what she wanted, she replied, “I want to live.” These words summed up her life. 

Our mother taught us lessons:

She instilled love for beauty.  Her final years were spent in an assisted living facility where she created a garden, tech center, and art studio.  As her eyesight dimmed, she continued to paint flowers in bold vibrant colors from memory. No one understood how she did it. 

She instilled wisdom. She did not judge our faults and did her best to teach us forgiveness because she knew the powerful wash of time over memory and the sting of regret.  She gave us advice that we did not usually want to hear, but as time passed always proved useful.

She instilled honesty. People shared their secrets with her because they knew she would hold them in safe harbor. She took the time to see need and did her best to fill it with empathy and a graceful sprit.

She instilled curiosity. Adventure never got old with Emily. She was willing to go anywhere and try anything.  She was a totally unique individual with a will of steel who did her best to squeeze every last minute out of life.  We hope you will do the same.

Emily was pre-deceased by her husband Harry Carroll. She is survived by her children: Harry Preston Carroll (Judy), Jill D’Antignac, and Theodore Carroll (Felicia), and her many and loved grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

A celebration of her life will be held Saturday, May 4, 2019 at 11:00 AM at the McMillan Cemetery with a celebration of life reception following at Broxton Bridge Plantation.